Ancient Library

Room 2.11: Documents from Egypt and the Ancient world

The Berlin Papyrus Collection is the oldest and largest of its kind in Germany and one of the most significant collections in the world. The diversity of the collection, which comprises tens of thousands of items, is the result of acquisitions and donations as well as excavations at various places in Egypt. In addition to papyri, which were made from the pith of the marsh plant of the same name, the collection features limestone flakes and potsherds (ostraca), leather, parchment, paper, textiles, wooden boards and wax tablets dating from the Old Kingdom to the Middle Ages. On these media texts have been handed down in Demotic, Egyptian, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Coptic, Persian, Arabic, Syrian and Ethiopian languages. The exhibition features major literary works and religious writings but also gives some insight into scientific study, schooling and everyday life in ancient Egypt

The Biography of Sinuhe

Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 1800 BCPapyrusThebes (?)Height 21 cm, length 490 cmInv.-No. P 3022The fictitious autobiography of the official Sinuhe (at the beginning of the 2. Millennium B.C.) was the most popular story in ancient Egypt. Its style and contents was used as an example for writing students so that there exist many mostly incomplete copies of the text written on ostraca (limestone sherds). The Berlin script is written on papyrus in hieratic (a script form of hieroglyphs) und contains the complete story.
Sinuhe escapes from Egypt to Palestine after Ammenemes I is killed. He fears that having served under the Queen he might be suspected of conspiracy. After many years of travel, he finally settles near Biblos and marries the daughter of a local ruler. There he accumulates great wealth and respect but still at the end of his life he wishes to return to Egypt and to be buried there. This request is finally granted to him by the new king Sesostris I and Sinuhe returns to Egypt.

Fairytales on the Papyrus Westcar

End of the 17th century BCLength 1,58mInv.-No. P 3033The tales written on this papyrus pretend to take place in the court of king Cheops of the 4th Dynasty. They tell of the astounding deeds of the magician Djedi who is able to reconnect the severed heads of geese to their body. However the end of the text ( and by far the largest part) contains a political-literary message which is meant to explain the transfer of power from rulers of the 4th o the 5th Dynasty: the magician predicts the birth of triplets which have been fathered by the sun god Ra himself and which will rule Egypt in the future.

The Persians of Timotheus of Miletus (Greek)

Ptolemaic, 4th century BCPapyrusAbusirHeight 18,5 cm, length 111 cmInv.-No. P 9875One of the oldest Greek papyri from Egypt with part of a play called 'The Persians' was found in a wooden coffin in a tomb at Abusir in 1902. The poet, musician writer Timotheus of Miletus (450 - 360 B.C.) was famous - and controversial - in his own time as an exponent of the so-called 'New Music' with the invention of the 11 string kithara and with a taste for epic themes such as the Persian defeat at Salamis which he expounds at great length. At the end of his story stand an appeal to the god and a blessing for cities in which his poem is declaimed.